


It’s More Than a Jacket

by Winchester_Bane



Series: Tarlos Week 2020 [3]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Established Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, M/M, Soft Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Worried TK Strand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:13:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28810179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchester_Bane/pseuds/Winchester_Bane
Summary: Tarlos Week 2020: Day 3- First love confessionAfter a night out with Carlos, Tk realizes some things so naturally he begins to panic.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Tarlos Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1942744
Comments: 11
Kudos: 169





	It’s More Than a Jacket

**Author's Note:**

> So this is very late, but life happened as I’m sure everyone has had happen this past year. I’m just now finally getting a chance to continue with this series and I hope to be able to have everything finished very soon. As always let me know what you think and ill be back shortly with more.
> 
> Not sure if there’s anything triggering in this one, I’ll say there are a few lines where a character starts to panic but its not very long or descriptive. Let me know if there is warnings that need added.

They walked out of the bar together and as the cold air hit his skin Tk took a step closer to Carlos trying to leech some of the heat that always seemed to radiate from his boyfriend. He smiled to himself at the thought of Carlos being his boyfriend. They had officially been together for almost four months and he still couldn’t believe he almost let this pass him by. Walking towards Carlos’ car he looks up and sees a beautiful sky full of stars reminding him of the night all those months ago they spent together on the hood of the camaro.

“Did you get many clear nights like these in New York?” Carlos asks.

“Not really, too much light from the city” Tk answers, glancing over at him, “there were a few times a call would pull us farther from the city and the view would be better, but it was never anything like it is here” he finishes. Looking across the street Tk sees a little park with a few picnic tables in the center and turns to his boyfriend with an idea forming, “Want to go watch the stars for a while?” He asks, pointing at the park.

Nodding Carlos takes his hand as they begin walking across the street. Hopping onto the table they lay back and look up at the sky. Tk’s mind takes him back to that night again and all he can think is how happy he has been these past few months. He could tell less than a month into the relationship that he was the happiest he had ever been with anyone before. If he’s being honest with himself he had been happy with Carlos before they were even officially together. 

He’s brought back to the present when he sees a star shoot across the sky, “it’s beautiful isn’t it” he says without looking at Carlos, who has been watching him for some time.

“Yeah, it is” Carlos says without taking his eyes off of his boyfriend. Tk turns to him and blushes, when he realizes he had been watching him, causing Carlos to smile softly. 

They stay there a while longer and Tk begins to feel the cold start to seep further into his body causing him to start shivering. Next to him Carlos shifts, sitting up and pulling his jacket off. He turns and drapes it over Tk before laying back down and pulling him closer and wrapping him in the warmth of his arms.

The thought hits him out of nowhere and his eyes widen as he thinks it. Laying on this table, wrapped up by his boyfriend, all Tk can think is that he loves him. It’s a thought that scares him, he’s not sure that he’s ready, but sitting here practically glued to Carlos’ side all he can think is how right the words feel. Still, he can't shake that voice in his head that tells him he needs to slow down, he thought he loved Alex too but look how well that ended.

He remains quiet and looks back up at the sky trying to find that calm that he had just moments before, but now that the thought is there it's the only thing he can focus on. He’s not sure how long he stays silent but it's long enough that Carlos notices and looks at him with concern.

“You ok” he asks. Looking at his boyfriend he can see the worry in his eyes and he sends him a warm smile trying to shake off the feeling that his thinking has caused.

“Yeah, I’m just tired,” he says. It’s not a lie, he is tired after his earlier shift and he has another long one tomorrow, but he still feels bad when he says it.

“We should probably get going anyway, we both have to be up early for work” he agrees nodding before standing and pulling Tk up with him. He starts shivering again as Carlos’ heat leaves him and the jacket falls to his lap. Carlos grabs it and wraps it around Tk’s shoulders before taking his hand and leading them across the park to the car. When they reach the car Carlos opens the door for him and waits until he is situated before he closes it and walks around the car.

It’s a small thing and it leaves Tk reeling once more, but that’s how it always is with Carlos. It’s always these small gestures that Tk cant help but love the man for. None of his past relationships showed how much they cared about him in such small ways. He looks back at Carlos who is now focused on driving them back to Tk’s place. He watches the way his arms flex as he turns the wheel and the way his brows pinch in the middle as they pull onto the road. Catching him staring, Carlos turns to him and raises his eyebrows.

“You sure you’re ok” he says with a small smile.

“Yeah, I just l-“ he stops, catching himself before he says the words he’s been thinking all night, “like watching you” he finishes weakly before hurriedly looking away and praying his cheeks aren’t as red as they feel.

“Okay,” Carlos says, dragging the word out, “I like watching you too” he adds with a chuckle. They fall into silence again and Tk sneaks another look at him out of the corner of his eye and finds Carlos already looking at him with a small smile. He looks back out the window and watches as the houses pass until they slowly start to look familiar. He hadn’t realized they were so close to his house until Carlos pulled into the driveway. His dad isn’t here tonight, he’s at the station having decided to stay there instead of getting up early in the morning, so it will be just him tonight. He had offered for Carlos to spend the night but he had declined stating that he didn’t want to wake Tk in the morning since he had to work two hours earlier.

When the car stops Tk opens his door and is surprised to see Carlos do the same. He looks at his boyfriend to ask what he’s doing when he realizes that he’s coming around the car to walk him to the door. Another small thing that makes him love this man. When they reach the house he pulls the keys from his pocket and unlocks the door. He slips just inside the door to the mud room and sees Carlos do the same.

Before he has a chance to even turn the lights on his boyfriend grabs him around the waist before gently turning him so they are face to face. Carlos looks into his eyes for a moment before drawing into a slow sweet kiss. When they finally pull back for and he looks into the taller man's eyes he finds himself almost saying it again, but instead he draws him into another short kiss before stepping back.  
“I had fun tonight” he says looking at Carlos.

“Me too” he replies, still watching Tk, “I should get going or we both know there will be no sleep tonight” he adds with a grin. “See you tomorrow?” He asks.

“Pick me up at the station after my shift” Tk says before giving him one more quick kiss at the corner of the mouth. 

“I’ll be there” Carlos reassures him before he turns to leave, closing the door on the way with a final wave to Tk.

Tk stands there watching the door that his boyfriend disappeared through, for longer than he would like to admit, once again stuck in his head. He loves Carlos, he can’t deny that to himself no matter how much he would like to try, but he’s worried. What if all of this is too fast, he just got out of a pretty terrible relationship hardly a year ago, and he’s already ready to give his heart to someone new. He gave his everything to Alex, and those before him, and look at how they all turned out.

Carlos isn’t Alex, he reasons with himself. Carlos is sweet, and kind, and the most loving and loyal people Tk has ever met. He would never do anything to hurt Tk like Alex had, but he’s still scared. What if this is all too fast for Carlos. What if he tells him he loves him and it scares Carlos away. It was Tk, after all, that had said he wanted to take things slow and now he wants to drop that on someone who has only been patient with him.

His phone pings snapping him out of his spiraling thoughts, and making him look around to realize he’s still standing at the door. Pulling his phone out he sees Carlos had text him twice, once to say he made it home, and then to tell him good night. Sighing to himself he pulls his shoes off and goes to take his jacket off only to realize he’s still wearing Carlos’. He pulls it off and looks at it as if it will have all the answers he’s looking for.

He won't be able to sleep tonight, he mind is too active, so he’s not in a hurry to get to bed. Maybe he could talk to his dad about everything in the morning, he wishes he was here so they could talk now. He can still feel the panic from earlier lying just below the surface. When his phone pings again, it's Carlos telling him he’ll see him tomorrow, its seems almost like his mind clears. Before he truly registers what he is doing he has the jacket back on along with his shoes, and he’s out the door walking towards Carlos’ house.

It’s a short walk, around twenty minutes, but when he rounds the corner and sees the familiar car sitting in its usual spot he feels like he blinked and arrived. He stops at the end of the driveway, his panic from earlier suddenly returning making him second guess his decision to come here.  
Shaking his head at himself, he marches up the driveway and sets his shoulders determined to do this right now while he still has some semblance of courage. He doesn’t stop as he gets to the door, and doesn’t allow himself to start thinking as he knocks. Briefly he feels bad that he likely is waking his boyfriend right after he just fell asleep, but this is something he needs to do now.

When the door opens he can see Carlos’ face go through many different stages, first confusion at someone knocking on his door at this time of night, then surprise at seeing Tk there, which quickly turns into concern probably due to the fact that he just left him at his house.

“Tk, are you alright? What are you doing here?” He asks opening the door wider and letting the other in.

Tk walks into the house and stops, turning to face his boyfriend he can still see the concern written on his face. He needs to say something, he knows that, but he can't get his brain to get his mouth to follow orders, so he ends up standing there staring which only makes Carlos look more worried. When Carlos reaches out and takes his hand, his heart says ‘fuck it’ and takes over for his brain.

“I love you” he blurts, “I have for a while I think. I love you, like a lot, and it's scary because i feel like this is going so well between us and my brain is saying its too soon, and I don’t want to scare you away” he knows he’s rambling now but he can’t stop, and the longer he goes the higher he sees Carlos’ eyebrows get which only makes him ramble more. “I’ve never loved someone as much as I love you, but that’s ridiculous because I’m kinda a mess and I don’t want to put any of that on you. This was a terrible idea I should have stayed home, but when we were at the park and you gave me your jacket and it's all I’ve been able to think about and now here I am confessing my love to you in the middle of the night all because i still had your jacket after you left and you probably think I’m cra-“

He doesn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before he's pulled into a kiss. This one is nothing like the ones from earlier, this one is strong and unrelenting, teeth clack together as they meet and it almost feels like Carlos is trying to pour everything he has into it. When they break for air he looks up at his boyfriend not sure what to say.

“I love you too. I’ve known I loved you since you got shot and i had to sit there thinking I’d never get to tell you” he says with so much love that Tk has no choice but to believe him. “I love you more than anything, so much it hurts. I was worried to tell you, I wanted to take it slow like you asked and I was scared that I was going too fast” he adds before drawing him into another, softer, kiss. 

“I’m an idiot” Tk says with a chuckle.  
“You are, but I love you anyway” he replies before drawing Tk into a hug. “You want to stay here tonight?”vhe asks.

“I guess. I don’t feel like walking back” he answers. Carlos takes his hand again and leads him down the hall to his room. When they are finally settled in bed, Carlos on his back with Tk draped across his chest, he says it again just because he can, “I love you”

“I love you too,” Carlos says back. The room is quiet for a minute before Carlos talks again, “if I’d have known giving you my jacket was all it took I’d have given it to you weeks ago” he laughs at Tk when he flicks his shoulder.

“Shut up, you love me” he says with a pout.

“Yeah I definitely do” Carlos says with a fond smile taking over his face at the sight of his boyfriend laying practically on top of him. He loves him, mess and all, and he wouldn’t change anything for the world.


End file.
